Production Supervisor

Production Supervisor

Job Title: Production Supervisor (1st Shift) Function: Production Career Level: M1 Reports to: Production Manager Location: Hilbert, WI

Ornua is a leading dairy company and the proud owner of premium dairy brands enjoyed by consumers around the world. With annual revenues exceeding $3.7 billion and a global workforce of approximately 2,800 employees, Ornua operates across 10 business units and 12 production facilities spanning Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Africa. In North America, Ornua is focused on delivering high-quality dairy products and ingredients to retail, foodservice, and food manufacturing customers. The company supports the growth of globally recognized brands, including Kerrygold, while also providing innovative dairy ingredient solutions to meet evolving customer needs.

At Ornua, our success is built on our people, our values, and our commitment to delivering quality products and exceptional service to customers every day.

Why This Role Is Valuable

As the Production Supervisor, you will lead daily manufacturing operations of your area to ensure the safe, efficient, and compliant production of high-quality dairy products. You will drive employee engagement, operational performance, food safety, and continuous improvement while helping achieve key business objectives related to safety, quality, service, and productivity. Success in this role requires a hands-on leader who develops high-performing teams, promotes accountability, and fosters a culture of safety, quality, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily production and/or packaging operations to achieve safety, quality, service, productivity, and cost objectives.
• Lead people management activities, including staffing, scheduling, attendance management, performance evaluations, coaching, recognition, corrective action, and policy administration.
• Train, develop, and support employees while ensuring compliance with safety practices, GMPs, SOPs, and other operational requirements.
• Execute production schedules and ensure accurate batch preparation, product labeling, and documentation.
• Coordinate with Warehouse and other cross-functional departments to ensure materials, resources, and equipment are available to meet production requirements.
• Ensure equipment readiness, product changeovers, sanitation preparation, and other operational activities are completed to support efficient production.
• Troubleshoot and resolve operational, personnel, and equipment issues in collaboration with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and other support teams.
• Implement and maintain food safety and quality programs, including HACCP and regulatory requirements, while ensuring accurate documentation and recordkeeping.
• Support compliance with all applicable company policies, customer requirements, and regulatory standards, including WDA, FDA, and USDA requirements.
• Promote a strong culture of food safety, quality, and workplace safety by identifying, escalating, and addressing risks and non-conformances.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, efficiency, productivity, waste reduction, and employee engagement.
• Monitor performance metrics and drive accountability to achieve established operational goals and business objectives.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support business needs.

Key Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Associate's degree in Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, Engineering, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Minimum 5-7 years of manufacturing experience with progressive leadership responsibilities.
• Prior supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, food safety systems, and regulatory requirements.
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to analyze data, prioritize multiple tasks, and make sound business decisions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and manufacturing systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively communicate, train, coach, and document information in English.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

Desired Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• Experience in dairy, cheese, food manufacturing, or other regulated food environments.
• Knowledge of SQF, BRC, FDA, USDA, and food manufacturing best practices.
• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives such as Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, or Six Sigma.
• Experience managing KPIs related to safety, quality, productivity, yield, labor efficiency, and customer service.
• Bilingual or multilingual communication skills preferred, with Spanish language proficiency strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting multi-shift manufacturing operations.

Physical Demands

This position requires frequent standing and walking in a manufacturing environment. Occasional bending, reaching, climbing, and lifting up to 30 pounds may be required. The incumbent must be able to safely perform supervisory duties and provide hands-on support to production operations as needed while complying with all safety, quality, and food safety requirements.

Working Environment

Work is performed in a food manufacturing facility with variable temperatures — cooler warehouse areas and warmer production zones. The environment includes exposure to moving equipment, moderate to loud noise levels, and required use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety shoes, safety glasses, hearing protection, hard hats and hairnets.

Why Ornua?

Ornua is a purpose-driven, values-led co-operative creating value for Irish dairy farming families through our global operations. With 10 business units, 16 production facilities, and in-market teams across the world, we operate through two divisions — Ornua Foods, which markets our iconic consumer brands including Kerrygold and Pilgrims Choice, and Ornua Ingredients, which provides innovative, customized dairy ingredient solutions to our customers. Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together. We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Career progression opportunities, including global mobility. Comprehensive benefits with region-specific offerings.

Ornua is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be provided with equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability status, or genetic information. Ornua is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require an accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact Ornua People Services at View phone number on click.appcast.io or View email address on click.appcast.io. This employer participates in E-Verify, a federal program that verifies the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. As part of the hiring process, information provided on your Form I-9 will be submitted to the E-Verify system. E-Verify compares your information to records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. For more information about E-Verify, please visit